“In the month of October, 1825, I hired with an old gentleman by the name of Josiah Stoal, who lived in Chenango county, State of New York. He had heard something of a silver mine having been opened by the Spaniards in Harmony, Susquehanna county, State of Pennsylvania; and had, previous to my hiring to him, been digging, in order, if possible, to discover the mine. After I went to live with him, he took me, with the rest of his hands, to dig for the silver mine, at which I continued to work for nearly a month, without success in our undertaking, and finally I prevailed with the old gentleman to cease digging after it. Hence arose the very prevalent story of my having been a money-digger.“
-Joseph Smith Jr.
Joseph Smith Jr’s treasure digging activities likely extended beyond this admission from his 1842 history. Besides digging for the “Golden Bible” and his seer stones, Joseph was also involved in numerous treasure digs between the years of 1822 – 1827. Each of the icons below represent a specific treasure quest and a specific story with its own key players. In each story Joseph Smith Jr. was reportedly involved.
These legends and more will be illustrated in detail in The Glass Looker.
Treasure Digging FAQ
What is treasure digging culture and how does it relate to Joseph Smith?
Watch this excellent video lecture by Dr. Justin Sledge: Treasure Magic – The Lore of Lost Riches and the Historical Sorcery Used to Find Hidden Treasure on the Esoterica Youtube Channel. The Mormon diaspora always views the world through a Mormon lens but this practice is much bigger than Joseph Smith and the Palmyra area. It started centuries ago in Europe and then came to America, although Joseph gets a shout out in the video for taking the practice to a whole new level.
To learn more about Joseph Smith’s involvement in treasure digging, check out Dan Vogel’s article The Locations of Joseph Smith’s Early Treasure Quests published in Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, Vol. 27, No. 3 (Fall 1994), pp. 197-231 (35 pages).
How many treasure digs did Joseph engage in?
There are dozens of stories about Joseph engaging in treasure digging throughout New York and Pennsylvania. Whether folklore or verifiable fact, here is a list I’ve compiled of treasure digging accounts involving Joseph Smith.
(Map Coming Soon)
I know that this list is not exhaustive, as there are fragments of stories that hint at additional treasure digs but do not provide enough information to rely on.
For instance, Martin Harris tells an “earnest” story about a treasure dig where the participants were frightened away by “a company of horsemen” before they could find the treasure. He does not list the location, the type of treasure being sought, who was involved, or when it occurred. There are numerous fragmentary accounts such as this one.
I also deleted about a dozen Joseph Jr.-adjacent treasure digging accounts from this public list because while his family, friends and/or colleagues participated in these digs, there was not enough in the account or historical context to tie Joseph personally to the dig site.
Finally, there are numerous accounts that Joseph used his seer stone and/or engaged in treasure digging in a general, non-specific way. A group of Palmyra residents published a statement in 1833 claiming that the Smith Family “spent much of their time in digging for money which they pretended was hid in the earth; and to this day, large excavations may be seen in the earth, not far from their residence, where they used to spend their time in digging for hidden treasures.” These “excavations” could relate to digs already identified on my list above, or perhaps additional specific digs lost to time.
Did Joseph Ever Find Anything?
The short answer is yes. The chart below illustrates a breakdown I made. How you divide the treasure digs and what constitutes “success” really depends on the individual. I’m being awfully generous with my graphic below.
Some would say that the only successful treasure dig that Joseph Smith was involved in, was the Willard Chase well dig which resulted in the retrieval of Joseph’s/ Willard’s brown seer stone. It is the only item that has been photographed.
